Claims:
1. A tamper evident closure for a container, wherein said closure comprising:
at least one pull tab (35) configured to disengage a top portion (31) from a bottom portion (32) of a closure (30) on removal,
a plurality of internal threads (38) on a skirt portion (43) of the bottom portion (32) configured for thread engagement with a container;
a plurality of double snap rings (39, 40) radially placed on internal walls of the skirt portion (43) configured for locking the closure (30) to the container; and
a tamper ring (41) partially and detachably connected to the skirt portion with fracturable joints (34), wherein the fracturable joints (34) break while applying any tools like screw driver to lift the cap on the closure assembled to the container whereby due to combination of clock wise rotation of the cap and the double snapping at the same time, tamper evident facility being provided.

2. The closure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pull tab (35) further comprising a visibly extended portion that is pulled out to initiate tearing of the pull tab (35).

3. The closure as claimed in claimed 1, wherein the pull tab (35) partially and detachably adapted to connect with the closure top (31) and closure bottom (32) with two weakened walls (36, 37) on the closure (30) periphery.

4. The closure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the closure is made by injection moulding techniques.

5. The closure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the closure is made from materials such as polypropylene, polyethylene and the like.

6. A tamper evident container with a closure, wherein said container comprising:
a plurality of threads on the container neck configured for thread engagement with a closure (30);
a plurality of snap rings on external walls of the container neck configured for locking the closure to the container; and
a well on the container neck configured to block access to a tamper ring (41) from bottom after assembly of the container and the closure.

7. The container as claimed in claim 7, wherein the container is made by extrusion blow moulding techniques.

8. The container as claimed in claim 7, wherein the container is made from materials such as polypropylene, polyethylene and the like.
, Description:TECHNICAL FIELD
The present subject matter described herein, in general, relates to a tamper evident closure cap for a container, and more particularly the invention relates to a tamper evident closure cap for a single use container with a pilfer proof structure.

BACKGROUND
Plastic closures formed from polymeric materials have met with widespread acceptance in the marketplace. Closures of this type, which have found particular applicability for carbonated and non-carbonated beverages, as well as for other applications, can be configured to provide the desired sealing performance, as well as desired tamper-indicating properties. Closures of this nature can be efficiently formed by injection moulding or compression moulding formation techniques.

Closures of this nature are typically applied to associated containers by high-speed, automatic capping equipment, including capping heads or chucks which rotatable fit each internally threaded closure to an associated, externally threaded container. Closures configured for tamper-indication typically include a tamper-indicating pilfer band depending from a skirt portion of the closure, which pilfer band is configured for cooperative engagement with the associated container so that the pilfer band is either partially or completely separated from the remainder of the skirt portion during initial removal of the closure from the container.

As will be appreciated, it is important that closure pilfer band remain intact attendant to high-speed application to an associated container. During typical closure application, closures are applied to bottles or other containers by rotation, until the closure/container thread interactions draw the closure down against the closure sealing feature, which contacts the upper extreme rim of the container finish. It is also important that closure is placed in such a manner that no external means can remove it from the engagement with associated container without visible evident tampering / breakage.

Reference is made to US20100252556A1 which discloses a closure (10) consisting of a cap portion (1), a retaining ring (3), a tear strip and a snap hinge (20), the snap hinge connecting the cap portion and the retaining ring in a single piece along a first circumferential section, wherein the cap portion (1) has a top plate (14) and the closure having overall a substantially cylindrical or slightly tapered closure skirt which, inter alia, comprises a substantially cylindrical cap skirt and the retaining ring (3), wherein the snap hinge (20) is integrated into the skirt and wherein the retaining ring (3) and the cap portion (1), in addition to being connected via the snap hinge (20), are also connected together along a second circumferential section (30) via the tear strip (4) which is also integrated into the skirt. The invention proposes that the cap skirt, tear strip, snap hinge and retaining ring together define an essentially closed closure skirt wherein the tear strip and the ends of the snap hinge (20) in the circumferential direction are connected with the cap skirt and/or the retaining ring and optionally with one another via film-like, easily tear-able lines of weakness.

Reference is further made to US5642825A that discloses a container having an opening and a cap adapted for closing the opening and having a tamper-indicating ring frangibly connected thereto for denying removal of the cap while the ring is connected thereto, wherein the ring comprises a plurality of pull-tabs to facilitate disconnection from the cap, the pull-tabs being symmetrically disposed about the ring. During assembly, the cap threads slip past and snap over the neck threads. The frangible ring internal lugs 115 fit between the adjacent neck external lugs 116, and the lugs become fully engaged as the cap seals the neck opening 107 to deny relative rotation of the cap and bottle. Because rotation of the cap is denied, unscrewing and removal of the cap is denied.

Reference is still made to US4753359A disclosing a tamper-proof bottle with a tamper-proof closure including an internally threaded "top-hat" cap having a tear-away portion and an annular snap rim welded to the bottom of the cap flange, the annular snap rim snap-fitting over the neck rib of the bottle. The reference provides provide a "top hat" style tamper-proof cap having welded thereto a sealing element which will interlock with the conventional neck lip of a conventional bottle to provide a tamper-proof package.

The currently known tamper-evident closure designs sufficiently accomplish their intended purpose, that is, to provide the user with evidence of container tampering. However, the currently available tamper-evident designs are problematic in that it is not fully pilfer proof in nature. Currently know tamper-evident closure assemblies fail to provide resilience to several ways of pilfering or tampering with the pack. It’s easier to remove most of the currently tamper-evident closures by just a use of screwdriver or knife. Or it is easier to tamper the closure first time and then put the threaded portion of closure back on container after pilfering with product.

Thus, the present invention contemplates an improved configuration of a tear strip for a tamper-indicating closure which enhances engagement with associating container, at the same time provides additional restriction for external means trying to remove the closure without tampering it for further use thereby making it pilfer proof.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The following presents a simplified summary of the invention in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the present invention. It is not intended to identify the key/critical elements of the invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concept of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to a more detailed description of the invention presented later.

An objective of the present invention is to provide a tamper-indicating closure, in accordance with the present invention.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a single use tamper evident container which makes counterfeiting difficult, in accordance with the present invention. Container of the present invention is reusable even if the cap is cut and removed from the bottle. Assembly of cap and bottle is tamper evident.

Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide pilfer proof assembly of a container and a closure.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided combination sealing to the pack with induction sealing, double snapping and thread locking. The present invention resides in a tamper evident closure for a container, wherein said closure comprising:
at least one pull tab configured to disengage a top portion from a bottom portion of a closure on removal,
a plurality of internal threads on a skirt portion of the bottom portion configured for thread engagement with a container;
a plurality of double snap rings radially placed on internal walls of the skirt portion configured for locking the closure to the container; and
a tamper ring partially and detachably connected to the skirt portion with fracturable joints, wherein the fracturable joints break while applying any tools like screw driver to lift the cap on the closure assembled to the container whereby due to combination of clock wise rotation of the cap and the double snapping at the same time, tamper evident facility being provided.

In another aspect of the present invention there is provided a visual safety feature to identify whether the pack is tampered or not. Since the cap sits in well of the bottle as shown in fig-5, it will damage if someone try to tamper the cap.

In another aspect there is provided a tamper evident container with a closure, wherein said container comprising:
a plurality of threads on the container neck configured for thread engagement with a closure (30);
a plurality of snap rings on external walls of the container neck configured for locking the closure to the container; and
a well on the container neck configured to block access to a tamper ring (41) from bottom after assembly of the container and the closure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certain exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is the top perspective view of container neck, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is the top perspective view of closure, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is the top perspective view of container and closure assembly, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the closure, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the container closure assembly, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and may have not been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figure may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbers are used to depict the same or similar elements, features, and structures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of exemplary embodiments of the invention. It includes various specific details to assist in that understanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary.

Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions are omitted for clarity and conciseness.

The terms and words used in the following description and claims are not limited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the invention. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of exemplary embodiments of the present invention are provided for illustration purpose only and not for the purpose of limiting the invention as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

It is to be understood that the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

By the term “substantially” it is meant that the recited characteristic, parameter, or value need not be achieved exactly, but that deviations or variations, including for example, tolerances, measurement error, measurement accuracy limitations and other factors known to those of skill in the art, may occur in amounts that do not preclude the effect the characteristic was intended to provide.

Features that are described and/or illustrated with respect to one embodiment may be used in the same way or in a similar way in one or more other embodiments and/or in combination with or instead of the features of the other embodiments.

It should be emphasized that the term “comprises/comprising” when used in this specification is taken to specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps or components but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, components or groups thereof.

It is also to be understood that the term “module” is used in the specification to indicate an apparatus, unit, component and the like. The term “means” when used in the specification is taken to specify the mode by which desired result is achieved.

The present invention relates to a container and a closure assembly comprising a tamper-indicating tear strip, tamper-evident engagement of the closure and the container and a well on the container neck that makes the assembly pilfer proof.

In one embodiment as illustrated in Figure 2, 3 and 4, the present invention comprises of a plastic closure cap (30) having a top portion (31) and a bottom portion (32) with a skirt portion (43). The closure (30) includes a tamper-indicating pull tab (35) depending from a body portion of the closure cap at top side. The pull tab includes an annular band portion depending from, and at least partially detachably connected to the top body portion (31) of the closure cap (30). The pull tab (35) is connected radially to the body portion of the closure cap with thin plastic wall. In this embodiment, no part of the pull tab engages (internally or externally) with the associated container (20). Additionally, the pull tab (35) may have a visibly extended portion which can be pulled out to initiate tearing of the pull tab. Removing the pull tab (30) entirely from the closure (30) results in removing the visibly evident portion of the closure thereby indicating tampering of the closure and restricting further uses of the closure.

In accordance with the illustrated embodiment, the body portion of the closure includes internal threads (38) on the skirt portion (43) configured for threaded engagement with external thread formations (21) on an associated container (20) as shown in Figure 5. Moreover, the closure cap (30) includes two snap rings (39, 40) radially placed on internal walls of the skirt portion (43) depending from the body portion of the cap and configured for the snap engagement with external snap ring formations (22, 23) on the associated container (20) thereby providing good locking to the container. Further, the closure includes a pilfer band or tamper ring (41) connected to the closure bottom (32) at skirt area (43) with fracturable joints (34). The tamper ring (41) is provided which is held against fracturable joints. This fracturable joints (34) will get break when someone try to open the cap by using any external means like screw driver or so. Due to combination of clock wise rotation of the cap and the double snapping at the same time, tamper evident being provided

Accordingly, in the embodiment, the neck of a blow moulded plastic container is suitably designed to enhance pilfer proof nature of the pack. The container (20) has a neck with threads (21) and two annular rings located axially below the threads. The container also has a well or depth (24) created below the annular rings and is integral to the container finish. The well structure (24) of the container neck camouflages the tamper ring (41) thereby avoiding access to it from external means.

As illustrated in figure 3 and 5, the present invention provides a container closure assembly (10). The container neck (20) has multi-start threads (21) and snap ring (22, 23) located axially below the threads. The threads (38) of the closure (30) engage with multi-start threads (21) of the container (20). Closure snap rings (39, 40) engage with snap rings (22, 23) of the container to ensure tight fitment between the closure (30) and the container (20). As the threads and the snaps are engaged, it ensures that the closure (30) cannot be simply removed up by a pull force and rotational torque as it is blocked by snap rings and threads respectively. The closure (30) is provided with a pull tab (35) which connects the closure top (31) and the closure bottom (32) with the help of two weakened walls (36, 37) created in periphery of the closure (30). On breaking the pull tab (35) with action of peeling or pulling force, the closure top (31) gets disjoined partially or fully with the closure bottom (32) and access is available to container orifice (26), from where the product can be poured out for usage. As the pull tab (35) is peeled and closure top (31) disjoined partially or fully, the closure bottom (32) stays on the container neck (20) engaged with the help of threads and snap rings. As the container neck (20) is engaged, there is no access for any component that can be used to close the container orifice (26), hence making it a compulsion for the entire product to be used in one time dispensing itself. The closure (30) is provided with a tamper ring (41) which is connected to the closure bottom (32) at skirt area (43) with fracturable joints (34). The container neck (20) is provided with a well structure (24). The combination of well structure (24) and tamper ring (41) in the assembly (10) blocks access to the closure skirt area (43). If one tries to tamper the pack through the closure skirt area (43) by using a screwdriver or alike tools, the action of doing so will result in breaking of fracturable joints (34), and separation of tamper ring (41) from closure skirt (43). This will be a clear indication that pack has been tampered with, therefore making it difficult for pilfering with product without one noticing the damage created to the container closure assembly (10).

In the embodiments of the present invention, the closure can be efficiently made by injection moulding techniques, as are known in the art, from suitable materials such as polypropylene, polyethylene and the like.

The components of the present invention as shown in the figures 1-5 are listed below:

Assembly 10
Container 20
Threads 21
Snap rings 22, 23
Well structure 24
Hot glue 25
Orifice 26
Closure 30
Top 31
Bottom 32
Fracturable joints 34
Pull tab 35
Weakened walls 36, 37
Threads 38
Snap rings 39, 40
Tamper ring 41
Skirt 43

Some of the non-limiting advantages of the present invention, are mentioned below:
• Tamper evident closure and container assembly
• Restricted access to pilfer band from external means
• Once pull tab is removed there’s no way to close the access again making it a one-time use pack
• The well created in bottle neck blocks access to bottom of closure after assembly of bottle and closure

Although a tamper-evident closure and container assembly has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methods, it is to be understood that the embodiments disclosed in the above section are not necessarily limited to the specific features or methods or devices described. Rather, the specific features are disclosed as examples of implementations of the tamper evident closure and container.